The Misadventures of a Girl in Hoenn
by DarkCloud The Wolf
Summary: Eight-year-old Melissa is a normal girl who recently moved from her home in the United States to some town called LittleRoot. As expected, she blatantly hates it, until she meets a young boy named Brendan and gains a pokemon.
1. Chapter 1

We stood in perfect unison, the flashing orbs changing colors and sparking.

"Nobunaga!" I yelled across the strange battle field. "Give up; this is your last castle!"

"Dragnor will never fall to you, Melissa! I will unite Ransei and meet the legendary pokémon!" His strong voice boomed back.

I looked down at my pokémon; a glaceon that I evolved from an eevee specifically for this battle. _He's wrong, that's going to be me._

Of course, you're all wondering how I got here. It's a long story; you might not even stick with me through the whole thing, but it started about seven years ago, I was eight years old.

…

"But Mommy, I don't wanna move," I cried for the billionth time, pounding on the windows of the car.

"I told you Daddy got a better job here, now, how old are you?" She asked irritably, gripping the steering wheel.

She knew how old I was, "eight," I answered, hugging my special pillow.

"Yes. You are a big girl now, so you are too old to be pouting," she lectured, her eyes still on the road. I gave a small sigh and turned to the window. Bushes and trees scattered the areas around the road, which was a beaten dirt trail.

"Look, we're here," she suddenly said, pulling me out of my trance. A small sign stated we were in Little Root Town. Why did that sound so familiar? Mommy pulled up to a good sized house across from a rather large building. I caught a glimpse of the little sign in front of it; it read: Birch Laboratory.

"What is a 'laboratory'?" I asked, sounding out the syllables.

"That's where your Daddy will work for a man named Professor Birch," she answered, opening her door.

"What is a 'professor'?"

"Just go inside sweetie," she answered tiredly. Despite my sadness, I excitedly ran inside the new house past the moving trucks, still clutching my pillow. The living room looked normal enough, the TV and couch from the old house were there, and picture frames were on the fireplace mantel.

Once I thought I had explored the room enough, I moved on to the next one; the kitchen. As I was inspecting the sink, I heard heavy footsteps enter from another room, which I assumed to be the dining room.

I noticed it was someone carrying the fridge, but something was out of place. His fingers were purple. _What? Purple fingers?!_ The person, or whatever was carrying it, turned to put the appliance down. And what it was nearly made me faint. Its whole body was purple, and muscled. Its mouth had two fangs sticking out, and red stripes covered its arms.

"Monster!" I cried, swatting it with my pillow. It looked surprised, and stumbled, sort of stepping on my foot. Red hot pain swept over the area, and stinging tears rolled down my face as I began to wail. I felt myself being picked up and gently rocked like a cradle. Through my bleary eyes, the monster took my shoe off and examined my foot. It looked fine, it wasn't puffy or anything, and I realized it didn't actually hurt that much. The thing put me back down and continued to move boxes.

"What happened? Did you see a spider or something?" Mommy asked, setting her purse down on a table. I hadn't noticed her come in.

"Um, no," the words left my mouth slowly, and I pointed in the direction it went. She followed my finger and bustled into the next room. A cry flew to my ears; Mommy must have had the same reaction. Right at this moment, Daddy walked in. He was wearing a funny looking white coat and his reading glasses.

"Daddy Daddy! There was a monster in here!" I cried, scampering into his arms. He hoisted me up onto his shoulder.

"Oh really?" he asked, amused.

"Yeah! It was really big," I blurted, using animated gestures. He looked like he was going to say something more when Mommy stomped in, lugging a confused monster behind her.

"Explain this, Scientific Guy!" She demanded, pointing at the thing. Daddy put me down, looking mildly surprised.

"That, my Darling, is a pokémon called machoke," he answered. Pokémon was my favorite thing to watch, but how could they be real? Mommy and Daddy began to argue in the background of my concentration. The two of them would bicker like best friends, but they rarely argued like this. My eight-year-old flightiness took over, and I instantly drowned them out with my own thoughts.

"We're in the Hoenn region," I thought out loud, coming to my conclusion. Mommy and Daddy looked back at me.

"Why don't you go say hello to all the neighbors," Daddy suggested, nudging me towards the door. I stumbled out of the room and heard Mommy's muffled voice.

"You want her to go outside and talk to strangers? What the hell is wrong with you?!" she accused.

"Don't worry, I already know everyone here," he answered, irritated. The two of them snapped at everything more often than usual since they were still in the process of quitting smoking. Once I had learned that it causes cancer at school, I convinced them to stop. But I knew they'd be back to normal soon.

As I walked out the door, bright sunlight warmed my skin and flower beds scattered the ground in patches. I continued outside tentatively, and chose to meet the people directly next door. I walked up their steps and stood there awkwardly for a few minutes. I nervously reached for the knocker and thumped on the door timidly. After a few seconds, I was about to leave when a woman with long brown hair opened the door.

"Oh, hello," she said, her voice warm and friendly, "who are you?"

"Um… I- I'm your new next door neighbor," Imanaged to choke out, looking at my feet.

"Oh! You're Mark and Sarah's kid, Melissa!" she exclaimed with recognition. "Come in, come in." I allowed her to guide me into her home. "This is my daughter, Sapphire," she said, gesturing to a younger girl with light brown hair in the frilliest dress I had ever seen.

"Hi!" Sapphire greeted me with only a small amount of shyness.

"Sapphire, this is Melissa, our new neighbor. Melissa, I think my son is upstairs, he's eight like you. Go say hello," she directed gently.

"Okay," I agreed bashfully, going to the stairs. I ambled into a room that had a bed with some sort of dinosaur pokémon sheets, a computer, and a small TV._ This is probably his room._ I glanced around to see if he was in there, and saw a pokeball lying on a rug. I leaned down to grab it. _What is this?_

"Hey!" Someone screamed loudly from behind me. I stiffened and nearly dropped the ball. I turned sharply and saw a boy with a head band, white hair and red eyes swiftly enter the room. "Who are you? What are you doing in my room? Why are you messing with that?!" He cried, snatching the sphere away.

"Too many questions," I mumbled, confused, "uh… my name is Melissa. Your mom told me to come up and find you, and that," I pointed to the pokeball, "made me curious." The boy watched at me suspiciously until some sort of recognition dawned on him.

"Oh yeah! You just moved next door! Dad said his new employee's wife and child were coming! Ah – I thought you'd be a boy," he burst out. And that was the moment all shyness and embarrassment was thrown out the window.

"What made you think I would be a boy?!" I bristled.

"No reason, I just assumed," he answered slyly. "Anyway, do you have a pokémon?"

"I just came here from America," I began before he cut me off.

"Then I'll go catch you one right now!" he said cheerily. "Oh, sorry, I can't. I promised my dad I'd help him with research. Well, see ya," he corrected himself, heading out of the room.

"Wait!" I called. He turned back around. "You never told me your name."

"Oh, right. My name's Brendan," he answered, then ran down the stairs. _His hair was white, and his eyes were red… gosh it's weird here._


	2. Chapter 2: Lucky Number Seven

After leaving Brendan's house, I really didn't want to say hello to everyone else in the town; I would meet them eventually anyway. I wandered around until I saw a little boy in front of what seemed to be the exit out of town; he had a conflicted expression on his face.

"Hey, what's wrong," I asked tentatively.

"Can't you hear it? There's someone yelling for help mixed in with pokémon cries," he elaborated. "We should help, but people can't leave LittleRoot without a pokémon!" Another cry for help flew to the two of us. "AAHHHHH! What do we do?"

I began to walk toward the shrieks, prepared to help. I entered a small clearing in the trees with tiny patches of long grass scattered everywhere. I glanced around and found the origin of the calls; there was a man with light brown hair wearing the same weird coat Daddy had, and he was being attacked by a small black dog thing.

"Hello!" he called out to me. "It seems I am in a predicament. Could you please open my bag over there and help me?!" I glanced in the direction he pointed. A small brown bag was lying in the dirt out of the man's reach.

"O- Okay," I stuttered, bending down to the bag. I opened the flap and peeked inside. Three red and white spheres were inside, and I could see a shape in each one. "What do I do with these?"

"Throw one!"

"Okay," I studied all three and saw little numbers appear over the balls. Two of them had fives, but the last one had a seven hovering above it. I gently grasped it, and threw it into the air. A beam of white light poured out of the ball and formed a shape. It was blue and had fins and orange cheeks.

"Great, you chose mudkip! Now battle this poochyena!"

"How do I do that?!" I cried, panicking.

"Tell it a command, like tackle. That one already learned water gun too!"

"Mudkip, use water gun," I commanded weakly. The mudkip obeyed, and sprayed a stream of water at the dog pokémon. The poochyena faced the mudkip and charged at it.

"Mudkip! Don't get hit!" I wailed, concerned for its safety. Luckily, it moved to the side, sending the poochyena barreling into a tree. The dark type whimpered and ran off.

"Are you all right sir?" I asked, trying not to let my shyness get the best of me.

"Oh, yes. Quite all right, thank you," he replied, heaving himself to his feet. "My name is Professor Birch."

"I'm Melissa," I responded.

"Ah, so you're Mark's daughter! Let's take these pokémon back to my lab," he said walking back to town. When we had reached his lab, two sliding doors opened to let us in. I stumbled inside, looking around in amazement. The lab was full of machinery and other science related items. I suddenly felt something on my leg. I glanced down to see the mudkip leaning on me lovingly.

"It seems that mudkip has taken a liking to you," the Professor told me, chuckling. "You can have it; I don't think it will leave you." _I – I can have mudkip?_ "What do you want to call it?" he asked.

"I don't know, is mudkip a boy or a girl?" I questioned, staring at mudkip. Professor Birch went to a table and shuffled around in it until he found a small red machine and handed it to me.

"Here, this is a pokedex; you can look up mudkip's data with it." I took it and opened the top. A screen was underneath and a picture of mudkip appeared on the top while information showed up on the bottom. The screen said mudkip was a boy. My mind suddenly flashed back to the numbers over the three pokémon's pokeballs.

"I'll name you Seven," I decided. Professor Birch looked a little surprised, but quickly averted back to a smile.

"That's a good name," he agreed. "Hey, my son is out researching pokémon for me, would you like to go battle him? He should be past Odale town," he suggested.

"Is that safe? Mommy and Daddy always say not to leave a town without them," I explained.

"You'll be fine; you have Seven to protect you if anything happens."

"Okay," I agreed, and left the Birch Lab, and then LittleRoot. After following a dirt path through the woods, and battling some poochyena and zigzagoon, I came upon a town with a sign that said Odale Town. _So, he should be past here… _I snuck a glance into Seven's pokeball, and he looked a little bit tired. _I should let him catch his breath._ I looked around the town and saw a red and white building with the words 'Pokémon Center' on it. I walked through the sliding doors to find tiled flooring and a big desk with some sort of machine behind it.

"Excuse me," I said to the lady behind the counter, her hair was pink and she wore a nurse's cap, "is this a place for my pokémon to rest?"

"Why, yes it is little one!" She responded cheerily, "Just give me your pokémon in their pokeballs." I hesitantly gave her Seven and she placed him on the machine. The machine began to whir and buzz, and Seven's pokeball began to pulse with a soft yellow light. "Here," she said, removing Seven and giving him back to me, "your pokémon should be restored to full health." The nurse gave me a big smile, and I gave a small one back and left the Pokémon Center.

"Hey!" Someone yelled to me, I turned to see a guy in an apron jogging to me. "Hi, I work at the Pokémon Mart; it's that building with the blue roof. We sell a variety of pokémon related goods, anyways, here's a free potion and five pokeballs as promotional items. Please come back and shop at any time!"

"Uhhh," I said as he jogged away, I put the pokeballs and potion in the small bag I had around my waist. I walked around until I found an exit, unfortunately there was a man there who claimed he had found a rare pokémon's footprints and wouldn't let me through. _Those look like human footprints…_ I decided not to tell him what I thought. I wandered around some more until I found a second exit. I continued to walk until I reached a dead end. I saw a boy hunched over next to some long grass; he was mumbling about something.

"H – hey," I called. The boy turned his face toward me. "Brendan?" I asked, astonished. _Brendan is Professor Birch's son? Wait, Brendan said his dad's new employee's wife and child were moving to LittleRoot._ I smacked my hand to my face._ Wow. I'm blind._

"Hey Melissa! What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I saved your dad from a poochyena, so he gave me a pokémon," I answered. "He asked me to have a battle with you."

"Oh, that sounds cool." He threw out his pokémon. I checked it using the pokedex, a treecko.

"Here we go Seven! Our first trainer battle!" I said happily, throwing the pokeball. Seven materialized in front of the treecko.

"Treecko, use pound," Brendan yelled.

"Seven! Dodge!" I cried. Seven moved to the side, but treecko's tail managed to clip him in the side, sending Seven twirling into some bushes.

"Seven!" Nothing moved.

"Geez, is it already over? But I should have expected that; you did _just_ get your pokémon," Brendan shrugged.

"I'm okay," I heard a little voice call from somewhere.

"Did you say something?" I asked Brendan.

"Nope," he answered.

"Wow, that pound attack hurt," said the voice. _SEVEN?! That is impossible! Pokémon can only say their names!_ "Is she going to call out another attack?" I heard Seven mumbling to himself.

"Well, I'm going back to LittleRoot," Brendan said, holding up his pokeball to return treecko.

"Hold on, it's not over yet!" I cried. "Use mud slap!" A burst of mud flew from the bush and smacked treecko square in the eyes, taking the two of them by surprise. "Now, use tackle!"

"Dodge it treecko!" Brendan called. Treecko began to move around blindly, and Seven came crashing out of the bush, knocking the grass type away. Treecko was returned to his pokeball.

"Hey, not too shabby," Brendan complimented me. "No wonder my dad gave you a pokémon! Look! Your pokémon already likes you!" he said pointing to Seven, who was once again on my leg. "Melissa, I get the feeling that you could easily make friends with lots of pokémon."

I began to blush at all of his compliments, but Brendan had already headed back to the lab.

"Now you have some explaining to do," I accused, pointing at Seven. "How come I can hear you?"


	3. Chapter 3: Escapade

I walked back to my new home; when I went through the door, I could still hear arguments coming from my parents. Apparently Daddy had forgotten to mention to us that there were pokémon here, so Mommy was mad, especially since she had to leave her job to come here. I still knew that all this would blow over; Mommy's anger lasts for only a few days for the level of this situation.

"Hi sweetie," Daddy greeted me when they realized I was home. "Did you say hello to all the neighbors?"

"Uhhhmmm… Yes?" I lied.

"You're an awful liar," Mommy accused. "What were you doing?" I decided I would keep the whole talking pokémon thing to myself. Seven was pretty surprised I could hear him, and he said he didn't know how or why I was able to either. What he did say was that he was talking to himself during the battle with the poochyena, but didn't say anything until our battle with Brendan, which is when I started to understand him.

"Oh, nothing, but look what Professor Birch gave me!" I said, releasing Seven.

"Oooo. A mudkip. That pokémon is very rare, treat it kindly and tell Prof. Birch thank you," Daddy reacted, leaning down to examine Seven.

"His name is Seven," I corrected him, picking up my pokémon.

"Oh, sweetie, that's a number, not a name."

"Excuse me, but she cannot keep that!" Mommy rejoined the conversation, agitated.

"No!" I cried, hugging Seven closer.

"C'mon Sarah, I think it's good for her."

"I'm sorry, but that," she said, pointing to my pokémon, "is _worse_ than a wild animal! You are giving it back tomorrow."

"Too tight!" Seven rasped, and I realized I had been gradually tightening my grip on him.

"Sorry," I whispered, loosening my arms.

"Now go upstairs and go to bed, it's eight o' clock."

"Okay," I said, hanging my head. I slowly trudged up the stairs and brushed my teeth and all that.

"She wants me to give you back," I cried to Seven, who was listening intently.

"It's okay, we'll be just fine," he comforted me. It was then that a horrible plan entered my mind. _What if I run away?_ I quickly emptied out my little waist pack and put in the pokeballs and potion that sails person gave me. I yanked my school back pack out of the closet and jammed in some pajamas, extra clothes, my toothbrush and toothpaste, a brush for my hair, and some shampoo. I thought about what else I needed, and stuffed in my special pillow as well. There was one more thing I'd need: a map.

"What are you doing?" Seven asked while I was opening my door. I turned around and shushed him._ I know Daddy keeps his pokenav in his room; I just have to sneak in there and grab it._ I tip–toed across the stairs and into his room; it seemed that Mommy and Daddy were still downstairs, so I only needed to be quiet. I snatched the pokenav off his dresser and dashed back to my room on light feet.

"There, now I have everything," I said to myself.

"What do you mean?" Seven asked.

"We're running away," I answered.

"I don't think this is the best idea, but as your pokémon I must protect you."

I gave him a genuine smile, something I hadn't done very often since a horrible day in the U.S. I returned him to his pokeball and did the classic 'tie your sheets to the bed' escape. I hit the ground running, and kept on running until I reached Odale Town's Pokémon Center. I went through the sliding doors and approached the nurse again.

"Is this also a place to stay for trainers?" I asked, completely out of breath.

"Oh, hello. It's you again. Yes, of course trainers can stay here," she answered cheerily, pointing to some rooms down a hall. "Just pick a vacant room, and in the morning Chancy will make you breakfast."

"Really?! Oh, I mean, thank you," I thanked her. I chose a room on the very end of the hallway and walked in. I locked the door and got into bed. I released Seven from his pokeball and put him on the pillow next to mine.

"Good night," was the last thing I said before sleep washed over me.


	4. Chapter 4: It's Been a Long Morning

I awoke with bright sunshine on my face. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing on my face.

"Sephhhffen!" My voice came out muffled underneath Seven. I heaved him off my face; he was still asleep. "Hey, wake up," I said, poking him. "We have to get to the next town."

"Uhhhggg, why?" he asked crankily. _Guess Seven is not a morning person. Pokémon? Whatever._

"Mommy and Daddy have probably noticed that I'm gone," I explained.

"Do they wake up at the crack of dawn?" he asked, rubbing his eye.

"Before that," I answered. I went to the bathroom and changed out of my pajamas. "Let's go," I said, returning Seven to his pokeball. I left the Pokémon Center after eating Chansey's free breakfast and went back to the first exit that was being blocked by that footprint guy.

"Sorry for blocking you yesterday," he apologized, "if it makes you feel any better, the footprints were my own."

I suppressed a giggle, and walked through. I continued on to the next town. On the way there I battled two boys, a kid obsessed with bug pokémon, and a girl who was _very_ determined to win. I also managed to catch a zigzagoon that I named Ziggy, and Seven grew a few levels. I saw a sign that said Petalburg City.

"So this is the next town, it's a lot bigger than the last two," I commented to myself. At this moment, a rather worried looking woman with sandy blonde hair shuffled up to me.

"Have you seen a little boy about your age? His name is Willy," the woman asked me, glancing around as if to see him at any moment.

"N… No ma'am," I answered politely, and the lady ran off in search. After walking around for a while, I found the path out of the city. I began to leave when a young man stopped me.

"Hey, you're a rookie trainer, right? Do you know what trainers do when they reach a new town?" he asked, guiding me back into the city.

"Sir, I have to-," I tried to say, but he was too intent on leading me somewhere, and I was too quiet.

"They check what kind of gym is in town!" the man answered his own question. Once he had left me in front of a big building, which I guessed was the gym, I tried to leave once more, but he quickly pulled me back to the same spot saying to check out the gym. _Why would I want to go to the gym; mommy already says I'm really skinny. _I went into the building, figuring that the sooner I checked it out, the sooner I could leave Petalburg. When I entered, there was a guy with black hair standing in the middle of the room.

"H… Hello," I greeted shyly.

"Hello," he greeted back, and he seemed to study me for a moment. "You must be Melissa; you're parents are looking all over for you."

"Wait, what?!" I asked, panicking.

"Don't worry, I will only tell them you are safe, but not where you are," he added.

"Wh-why?"

"You have pokémon with you don't you? You should be fine, even if you are under aged," the man answered. "Although, you are just a rookie, why have you come to challenge me?"

"Challenge? I came in here because a weird guy won't let me leave Petalburg until I would come in here," I explained.

"That damn guy again?!" the man yelled.

"Bad word," I squeaked, slightly mortified. I had heard mommy use lots of bad words, but not a lot of other people say them.

"Eh, sorry," he apologized for the word. "So you don't know what the gym battle challenge is?" he asked. I shook my head. "It's where a trainer collects eight gym badges by defeating the eight gym leaders in pokémon battles. Once the trainer has done this, he or she can then challenge the elite four and champion. If the trainer wins, they are placed in the hall of fame."

"So, if they win, they become famous?" I questioned. The man nodded. _Maybe, if I win, mommy will let me keep Seven, and Ziggy too._ "Which gym leader are you?"

"Oh, I forgot my manners. I'm Norman, the normal type leader," Norman replied.

"Norman! Norman!" a boy about my age with greenish hair called through the door.

"Oh, hello William," Norman greeted the boy. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be moving to some relatives of yours right about now?"

"Well," William started, looking down and blushing. _Is- Is he shyer than me?_ "I thought you could help me catch a pokémon before I moved; I figured I would be really lonely by myself…" he explained.

"I suppose so," Norman agreed, and handed William a pokeball. "Here's my zigzagoon, take Melissa there with you; she'll show you how to catch one. If that's okay with you, that is," the normal type gym leader suggested.

"Uh, okay," I agreed to help.

"Thank you, Norman!" William yelled, taking us all by surprise. "Ack," he blushed, realizing he had just been loud. "I mean, thank you." The boy named William bowed to Norman and smiled widely. The two of us left the building and went back to the route I had entered Petalburg from.

"So, I just walk into the grass here?" he asked me, wading into the weeds.

"Uh, yes," I answered, only slightly shy.

"Okay, so now I just-," William said as a green, white, and red pokémon jumped in front of him. He stood there for a second, wondering what to do.

"You should probably battle it," I suggested, pointing to Norman's zigzagoon's pokeball.

"Oh, right," he threw the pokeball, and zigzagoon popped out. "Tackle," he commanded weakly, and the normal type crashed into the pokémon. I pulled out the pokedex, curious about what it was. The screen said it was a ralts, a psychic type. "Now what do I do?" William asked.

"Throw a pokeball at it," I instructed.

"Like this?" he questioned, tossing the ball at the ralts. Ralts disappeared into the red and white sphere, which rocked back and forth three times and made a plinking noise. "Did I catch it?"

"Uh huh," I confirmed, still looking at the pokedex.

"That's what I caught?" William asked, suddenly hovering over my shoulder.

"Mm hmm. A ralts," I answered.

"Wow, that's so cool! Thanks Melissa!" he thanked me, bowing again.

"Why do you keep bowing like that?" I asked.

"It's how you say thank you. Why don't you know?"

"I came from America; we only said thank you, we didn't bow or anything."

"My mom always said that it was polite to. Hey, can I call you Onee-Chan?" he asked me. _He doesn't seem shy at all anymore… How lucky, I take forever to warm up to somebody._

"Um, sure. What does it mean?" I wondered.

"It means big sister! You're silly Onee-Chan!" he laughed. "Bye Onee-Chan!" he waved, and ran back to Petalburg. _I wonder, am I actually older than him? _I felt myself smile.

"Ziggy, Seven," I said, releasing them from their pokeballs.

"Yeah, what is it?" Seven asked, sitting in the grass. Ziggy looked up at me expectantly.

"We're going to take on the gym battle challenge," I answered.

"Wow, really?" He questioned, blinking, and Ziggy just looked confused.

"Yeah, if we can win all eight gym badges in battles, and beat the elite four and champion, I think Mommy will let me keep you guys," I explained to the two of them.

"Then let's do it!" Ziggy suddenly cried out.

"You're rather enthusiastic," Seven commented, narrowing his eyes.

"I can hear you too!" I cried back, slightly less shocked than the first time Seven started talking.

"Really? I knew you could hear Seven, but I didn't think you would ever hear me; I've been talking a whole lot, actually," Ziggy added, licking his paw, and he got a mischievous look on his face. "But then again, I didn't like you that much until now; you didn't seem to have much of an air of adventure to you."

"Yeah; he's a wise guy," Seven said, gesturing to Ziggy with a real annoyed look on his face. _I have a feeling that we are not a very good team. Plus my pokémon seem smarter than me; I don't even know what enthusiastic means… Then again, this sort of team is usually the kind that succeeds. Weird._

"But first," I said, interrupting their bickering, "let's find a ralts too! There must be more around here," I observed, glancing around. "Ziggy, I want you to help me catch it this time; I've been using Seven this whole time."

"Yes!" he exclaimed, sitting upright. I returned Seven, who looked annoyed again, to his pokeball, and walked further into the grass with Ziggy. After a few minutes, the two of us heard a cry, but it sounded much different from a ralts'. We decided to investigate, and found a small pink and tan pokémon caught in some sort of trap.

"What is this pokémon?" I asked Ziggy, bending down next to it.

"A skitty," he answered, examining the cat-like pokémon. I looked at the trap; it was a stick shoved into the ground with a wire loop, which was around the skitty's foot. "There are very few around here, but they aren't known to be in very many other places." The skitty mewed weakly, and I guessed it had been there for more than a day.

"You poor thing," I said, gently petting its head. "Ziggy, can you chew through that wire?"

"You got it!" He confirmed, and began gnawing at the line. The skitty mewled in pain once or twice, and I noticed that the wire had chewed its way into the pokémon's foot.

"I'm sorry," I whispered into one of its ears as the cord finally broke in half. I picked up the skitty and started running back to the pokémon center as fast as my clumsy feet could carry me.

"Nurse Joy!" I cried as the automatic doors opened. "This little skitty's hurt!" I lifted the skitty closer to her, and Ziggy finally caught up to me.

"Oh, poachers again!" Nurse Joy said, and Chansey appeared with a table on wheels. I stared at the table, and memories came back; memories of a body on a table much like this one. It was the reason; the reason why my smiles were usually fake.

"Hey, why are you staring at the floor?" Ziggy asked, nudging my leg.

"Huh?" I blinked as my mind was pulled back to the present, and, sure enough, I was gazing at the floor. I noticed that Nurse Joy, Chansey, and the skitty were all gone. "Whut?"

"They took the skitty to that back room over there," Ziggy explained, gesturing to a room with an image that looked like a shot above the door. "What's wrong with you? You suddenly started gawking at the floor like a weirdo. Say, you're not a weirdo, right?"

"Uh, I don't know," I answered, spacing out again.

"You're really not that smart, are you?" He criticized, cocking his head, and he seemed to notice I wasn't paying attention. "Seriously, are you okay?" Ziggy asked, a small trace of concern in his voice. "Not that I'm worried or anything, I just don't want a bonkers trainer."

Nurse Joy came out of the room and up to us. "The skitty should be fine; it was only a small gash around its foot. The wound should be fine to travel on in a few hours."

"Okay," I said quietly, and I sat in a nearby chair. I found myself becoming sleepy, and I drifted off into the blackness.


	5. Chapter 5: A Few Fateful Encounters

Nurses. A doctor. A table with rolling wheels. I was seeing it all a second time…

"Miss…" I heard a far off voice. _They'll tell me he's dead again, won't they? _

"Young lady," I heard the voice again, and a gentle hand shaking my shoulder.

"Wah?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. I eventually opened them, and found a lady with pink hair looking at me worriedly. _Oh, I was sleeping. Of course, that can't happen twice._

"Miss, your skitty is ready for travel," the pink haired lady told me, and a chansy came in carrying a small pink cat.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," I thanked her, getting up from my chair. "By the way, earlier you said that there were poachers. What do they do?"

"You are a very young girl, so it would make sense that you don't know about them," she answered, picking up the skitty and handing it to me. "Poachers catch pokémon illegally and cruelly and tend to sell these pokémon for high prices to bad people, or use them for their own dirty work."

I looked down at the skitty, who had snuggled up to me and was waving its cat-like tail back and forth, and I thought of the little thing being put in a small cage surrounded by big scary people. I quickly shoved the thought away and patted the skitty on the head, and it purred happily.

"Anyway, your skitty's leg will be fine if you keep it from straining itself," Nurse Joy instructed me, and she and Chansey shuffled off to another trainer waiting at the desk.

"Hey, you never returned me," said a voice from below.

"Oh, Ziggy, sorry," I apologized, glancing down at my zigzagoon.

"You better be. While you were sleeping, I got to sit here awkwardly," he complained, scowling. "So, the skitty's okay?" he asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Uh-huh," I smiled a little, relieved that it would be fine. "Oh! I should put it in the pokedex." I shuffled in my pack and pulled out the red machine. The screen said it was a female skitty at level six. Some extra data said she had a brave nature, and was alert to sounds with the ability cute charm. I looked at the skitty again.

"You're such a… Cutie!" I cried, my inner love of cute things showing itself.

"Cutie! I like that name!" the skitty cried happily, and her tail swooshed back and forth like a dog's.

"Whoa, I can hear you too!" I exclaimed, holding her out at arm's length. "So, you want to be my pokémon?"

As if in answer, Cutie wiggled out of my hands and dove into my back pack, where she found one of my empty pokeballs, and she disappeared into it. Ziggy and I glanced at each other.

"This place is weird," I commented, that being the second time I said it. "Anyways, we've spent a lot of time here, so let's go to the next town."

We left the pokémon center, and I checked the Pokenav for which town had the best gym for new trainers. I was reading some information on a place called Rustboro City and how to get there when I accidentally bumped into a large man wearing sunglasses and a red and blue Hawaiian shirt.

"Oh! Um, excuse me," I said bashfully, remembering my manners.

"Are you a pokémon trainer?" the man asked, pulling his sun glasses down on his nose and glancing back and forth between Ziggy and myself. "Your clothes aren't that dirty… You must be a rookie or a local kid. Sorry to bother you." And with that, the man walked away, putting his shades back over his eyes. Ziggy and I brushed the encounter off and continued out of Petalburg.

We eventually came to a small beach, and I battled a boy who was obsessed with his footprints in the sand, and a fisherman who wondered what the bottom of the ocean was like. I returned Ziggy, who had battled both of them, and saw another small sign. This one had the name 'Captain Briney' on it, and a small house and dock were close by. _Why does he have a sign? Does he own a business?_ I stopped wondering about this random Captain, and continued on.

As I shuffled through the last of the sand, a blue shape hurdled out of some grass to my right and planted itself firmly in front of me. It took me a second to realize it was a pokémon, and I threw out Cutie, thinking that a wild pokémon would be a good first battle for her.

"Cutie, use tackle!" I called, and she ran at the blue pokémon, her little paws kicking up sand. The foe pokémon dodged just in time and whacked Cutie with the sapphire orb on its tail._ I don't think that was a move. I wonder if it's playing with us…_ Cutie pushed herself up off the sand and hissed angrily.

"Attract!" I called the next move, hoping it would work better. Pink hearts appeared around my skitty and flew into the enemy pokémon, popping into sparkly glitter on contact. However, the supposed water type just shook it off and fired a water gun at Cutie.

"Why didn't that work?" I asked myself, frustrated. A bright light flew from my belt and materialized as Ziggy.

"Attract only works on pokémon of the opposite gender," Ziggy explained, licking his paw.

"Oh. Use sing!" I said. Cutie shook herself off, spat furiously, and started singing soothingly. The blue pokémon looked as if it was growing sleepy, and it fell over. I dug in my bag and found an empty pokeball.

"You're not gonna knock it out?" Ziggy asked, puzzled.

"Why? It's already asleep," I answered, tossing the pokeball at the wild pokémon. It disappeared into the sphere. I scanned the pokeball with the pokedex and found that the mystery pokémon was a level ten marill with a strong will and a calm nature. "I think I'll call you Mari."

Cutie and Ziggy both returned to their pokeballs, and I continued on into a forest called Petalburg Woods. I walked around in the grass for a while, battling pokémon and trainers alike, when I came upon a man searching through the grass.

"Oh, hello," he greeted cheerily. "Have you seen any shroomish?"

"Uhm, no sir," I answered shyly.

"Oh, well that's too bad," he said sadly, standing back up.

"YOU!" a man in a blue and black striped outfit and a bandana yelled after running up to us. Both I and the man stiffened from surprise. "I have been waiting for you for HOURS! I was gonna steal the Devon goods from you in secrecy, but you just had to waste all my time here!" The man shouted angrily, pulling out a pokeball. "Now I'll take them by force!"

The shroomish man let out a yelp and quickly shielded himself by hiding behind me.

"You're a pokémon trainer, right? That means you have to help me, right?" he asked nervously, and I felt him shaking.

"Um, I'm eight," I answered, confused that a full grown man was hiding behind lil' ol me.

"I don't care who I have to battle or how old they are! Just give me the Devon goods!" the mystery man demanded.

"I'm still eight," I added quietly, raising my hand bashfully.

"Go zubat!" my opponent cried, chucking the pokeball. A small purple bat-like pokémon popped out, flapping its wings and baring its little fangs.

"Go Seven!" I said, still a little confused.

"Hey Melissa, what's going on?" Seven asked happily. "Oh, an opponent. What's up with his clothes? He looks like a weirdo." I shrugged my shoulders at his questions and we got ready for a battle.

"Use astonish!" the man called, and his zubat flew in close to attack. I decided not to wait and see what the move was and told Seven to dodge.

"Water gun," I called, and Seven enveloped the flying type in water. Zubat dropped to the ground, its eyes all swirly.

"Argh!" the oddly dressed man yelled angrily and returned his pokémon. "Team Aqua will be back!" And with that, the man ran off.

"Oh, thank you," the shroomish man thanked me anxiously. "I don't know how to repay you!"

"It was no problem, really," I answered timidly, bothered by the extra attention.

"I know! My boss would probably like to thank you too! I work at Devon Co. It's the really big building in Rustboro up ahead," he continued, ignoring my earlier statement. The man walked away, leaving me alone in the woods to ponder the awkward scene that had just unfolded.

"That was kinda strange," Seven commented, agreeing with what I was thinking.

"Well, we should get to Rustboro," I finally said, breaking the silence. And with that, we set off for the gym.


End file.
